By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It looked like Diamond’s quest for a district volleyball title was headed for a sudden finish.
The second-seeded Wildcats already trailed top seed Lamar 2-0, and were down 20-11 in the third set with elimination on the line. Even head coach Morgan Murray didn’t have much hope.
“Like everybody else in the gym I thought it was over,” she said.
But Diamond mounted an incredible comeback and won that third set 26-24, then outscored the Tigers by 21 in the final two sets for an improbable 3-2 win in the Class 2 District 11 finals at East Newton on Monday night.
“A tremendous comeback,” Murray said. “For them to come back, they have a lot of heart and they’ve worked very hard. I’m so proud of them.”
It was the eighth-straight victory for the Wildcats, their second-straight district championship and third in the last four seasons. But early on Monday night they looked overmatched.
Lamar quickly doubled up Diamond in the first set and rolled to a 25-13 win, then overcame a five-point deficit in the second to pull out a 25-22 win. The Tigers were cruising in the third, too, taking leads of 10-4, 17-9 and then 20-11.
But then Diamond senior Gabrielle Duley came up with a kill and sophomore Kabrie Parmley added a block to spark a quick 4-0 run by the Wildcats. It was 21-15 after a kill by Lamar’s Mollie Maberry.
Diamond answered with eight straight points, a run that featured three kills by junior Caitlin Suhrie and an ace from freshman Addie Beckett, and suddenly the Wildcats led 23-21.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
Lamar retook the lead with three-straight points and needed just one more to clinch the championship, but Diamond won the next three to escape with a 26-24 win. The momentum had shifted.
In the fourth, the Wildcats opened with a 5-1 lead and increased that to 10-3 after a kill by senior Kilyn Gardley. A kill by Suhrie and tips from Suhrie and sophomore Lauren Turner helped open up a 14-4 advantage. After Lamar got back to within nine, the Wildcats scored nine of the next 10 points to make it 24-7 with the Tigers committing some self-inflicted errors. Gardley finished off a 25-9 win with a block at the net.
Diamond never trailed in the deciding fifth set but things were close early. It was 9-8 Diamond before the Wildcats scored four of the next five points, and Beckett sealed the 15-10 win with a shot to the back corner.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Murray said. “I thought we were done. For them to come back, and the way they left it all on the court and worked their tails off, it was awesome.
“They just came out ready to play and they weren’t ready to give up yet,” she said. “They weren’t done, those seniors weren’t done. They just wanted to play more and it showed.”
Lamar finishes the year with a 16-12 record, while Diamond improved to 23-9-4. The Tigers had won three matches against the Wildcats in the regular season.
Suhrie had 33 digs and 16 kills, Duley had 36 digs and 13 kills, Emilee Shallenburger had 33 digs and Turner added 11 kills.
“Emily Shallenburger, she started slow and she came back and worked her tail off,” Murray said. “Gabby Duley, just all of them, every single one of them. They worked so hard and I’m so proud of them.”
The Wildcats will play Thursday at the District 12 winner. Top seed Fair Grove and third seed El Dorado Springs will play for that championship on Tuesday in Fair Grove.
